Primary 3/4 have had another busy month in class with lots of fun learning activities. We have had Pancake Day and World Book Day as well as an exciting day spent carrying out Science experiments. This month we have been lucky to have student teacher Miss Bradley joining us each Thursday, she will be working with us over the next few weeks and is delighted to work with the children who have welcomed her warmly. 
Maths and Numeracy
It has been all about the Money in Maths. Children are able to recognise and identify all coins and notes to £20 an can record these in pounds and pence. They are able to calculate the total cost of items and work out change. They have had lots of fun in class using the cash register and solving money related problems.
As always it is great for them to get some practical experience of using money and paying for items in store, alternatively get them to look at receipts and detail amounts and totals.
Please try to encourage children to spend 15 minutes each day on Sumdog, unfortunately I have noticed that only a few of the children are accessing this so would like to take this opportunity to remind you that this is used as homework to reinforce and consolidate what the children are learning in class.
We are currently looking at 2D shapes and 3D objects and will then be moving on to Fractions.
Literacy
The Green Group have now finished reading Horrid Henry and have enjoyed reading all about Henry and the Bogey Babysitter. We are looking forward to starting our new novel. The children in this group are reading fluently and with expression and are developing their comprehension skills and demonstrating this in their writing. You can help them with this by asking them to answer in full sentences when discussing their homework.
The Red Group are making good progress and are enjoying the range of novels that they are reading.
Children have completed some excellent writing this month; they wrote a narrative piece where their fictional character encountered a storm, or extreme weather force. The children really enjoyed writing these and used some good adjectives to enhance their writing. The boys and girls also carried out research and note taking to apply to the genre of explanation writing. Pupils chose whether to explain the cause of a Tsunami, an Earthquake or a Volcano. Ask them to explain to you! I am certain you will be impressed!
Religious Education
This month started with our class leading First Friday mass on the 4th February, the children prepared carefully and did themselves proud in their readings and participation of the prayers and hymns. The children are making good progress with their Sacramental preparation and I thank you for your support in working with the children to complete the Home Sessions. The children who are involved in Sacraments will attend a retreat in the Church Hall to help in the very special preparations for Reconciliation and Communion. All children will be learning about forgiveness and have been listening to parables and bible stories. We attended Mass for Ash Wednesday and are learning about Lent and the Easter Story.
OTHER CURRICULAR AREAS
We have spent the last few weeks learning all about the layers of the Earth, Extreme Weather and Natural Disasters.
We created Tsunami’s in a bottle, which showed us the impact of a Tsunami on the coastline.
We moulded Volcanoes from clay and used a chemical reaction to watch them erupt.
We built model towns in trays and used card to act as tectonic plates to show us what causes Earthquakes.
This visual representation in each activity allowed the children to develop a deeper understanding of their learning.
We cannot wait to learn about Hurricanes and Tornadoes.
HOMEWORK
We have decided as a class that we are going to use our ICT skills and access our homework from Teams each week. This will be posted on a Monday under the Primary 3 / 4 Team and on our class tab on the school website.
Please remember to sign homework diaries to confirm completion each week.
Thank you once again for the support provided and please do not hesitate to contact me should you need to discuss anything.
